Parenting Cognitions Associated with the Use of Psychological Control

Psychological control is a pattern of parenting that is intrusive and manipulative of children’s thoughts, feelings, and attachment to parents. Although little is known about the determinants of psychological control, it has been linked to the psychological status of the parent. We hypothesized that several parenting cognitions reflecting personal concerns would be associated with the use of psychological control: low perceived control, sensitivity to hurt, and a disapproving attitude to negative emotion. We also examined moderating associations with child temperament and child gender. Participants were 198 mothers and fathers of 3and 4-year-olds (106 boys, 92 girls; M age = 4.10 years, SD = 0.26). Parents completed selfand spouse-report measures of psychological control, rated their child’s temperamental characteristics, and completed measures of parenting cognitions. Predictions were generally supported for two of the three cognitions. Sensitivity to hurt and disapproval of negative emotion were associated with more frequent reported use of psychological control. There were some moderating effects of child characteristics.